Friday, February 29, 2008

WORDPLAY


I love music. I'm a ole skool hip hop head to the core. I have nothing against some of these new cats who are on the scene. I just think that you have to put more effort into what you're talking about to get the results that you want. If you want to get drunk or get high before you write your verse, then you never know what that will do to your creativity. I don't knock cats for doing what they do. I just know that music ain't what it used to be. Damn...I sound like my pops.

We're gonna keep it real simple today. Today's vibe is gonna be a verse, a rhyme, or 16 bars from one of your favorite songs. It doesn't have to be rap. It can be r&B, country, rock, or poetry.

Here's mine. It was written by a young scribe named William Michael Griffith, Jr. Also known as Rakim or Rakim Allah.

My Melody
I keep the mic in Fahrenheit, freeze MC's and make em colder
The listener's system is kickin like solar
As I memorize, advertise, like a poet
Keep you goin when I'm flowin, smooth enough, you know it
But rough that's why the middle of my story I tell E.B.
Nobody beats the "R", check out my melody...

I take 7 MC's put em in a line
And add 7 more brothas who think they can rhyme
Well, it'll take 7 more before I go for mine
And that's 21 MC's ate up at the same time

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm gonna' hit you with two; One hip hop; the other ol' skul Rra n Bee....

"I used to Love Her" Common
I mightve failed to mention that the shit was creative
But once the man got you well he altered the native
Told her if she got an energetic gimmick
That she could make money, and she did it like a dummy
Now I see her in commercials, shes universal
She used to only swing it with the inner-city circle
Now she be in the burbs lickin rock and dressin hip
And on some dumb shit, when she comes to the city
Talkin about poppin glocks servin rocks and hittin switches
Now shes a gangsta rollin with gangsta bitches
Always smokin blunts and gettin drunk
Tellin me sad stories, now she only fucks with the funk
Stressin how hardcore and real she is
She was really the realest, before she got into showbiz
I did her, not just to say that I did it
But Im committed, but so many niggaz hit it
That shes just not the same lettin all these groupies do her
I see niggaz slammin her, and takin her to the sewer
But ima take her back hopin that the shit stop
Cause who Im talkin bout yall is hip-hop

Love's Holiday (Earth Wind & Fire)

Would you mind if I touch,
If I kiss, if I held you tight
In the morning light
Would you mind if I said how I felt tenderly tonight
Again cause

I never ever felt this way in my heart before
Love has a holiday in my heart tonight

Would you mind if I looked
Into your eyes till Im hypnotized
And I lose my pride
Would you mind if I make love to you till Im satisfied
Again cause

I never ever felt this way in my heart before
Love has a holiday in my heart tonight

Trish said...

Cant give you a Rap lyric, but Ol school R&B by Lalah Hathaway.
Most of you won't know it anyway.

Time heals all wounds, so they say, so they say,
and the sun's gonna shine, so they say, so they say,
but what if this is all a dream and things are not the way they seem, what about the things they say?
Is there someone for everyone?
Do we reap what we sow?
Is there really good in eveyone?
Will we ever know?
Love lives thru time and
There's no place like home.
And I may be all alone.....
but I believe what they say.

12kyle said...

@ Trish
I knew you'd come with an rb classic. LOL

@ Rezidl
Those are two classics. "I Used to Love H.E.R" is one of my all time favorites.

Don said...

12, I couldnt understand how just about everything you write...I understand to the fullest. Now I see why. We are the same age.


[notorious b.i.g.]
Uhh.. Im flamin gats, aimin at, these fuckin
Maniacs, put my name in raps, what part the
Game is that? like they hustle backwards
I smoke blackwoods and dutchies, ya cant touch me
Try to rush me, slugs go, touchy-touchy
Youre bleedin lovely, witchyo, spirit above me
Or beneath me, your whole life you live sneaky
Now you rest eternally, sleepy, you burn when you creep me
Rest where the worms and the weak be
My nine flies, baptize, rap guys
With the holy ghost, I put holes in most
You hold your toast shaky, slippin tryin to break me
Look what you made me do, brains blew
My team in the marine-blue, six coupe
Skied it out, weeded out, cleanin out -- the block
For distances, givin long kisses b*tch

Don said...

BIG didnt have to dis Tupac with that verse. The man was already dead.

12kyle said...

@ Don
Thanks, fam. I told you the other day that you were a philosopher! LOL. Eb told me that I'd enjoy bloggin. Thanks for puttin me in the loop.

Long Kiss Goodnight by Biggie. It was one of my favorites on disc 2. Puff's rant at the end really wasn't necessary. He said "he wasn't talking about no other rappers." Ok Puff...who were you talking to? Suge Knight? LOL

Anonymous said...

Nas (NY State of Mind)
"Be havin dreams that i'm a gangsta, drink moets holdin teks.
Makin sure the cash came correct then I step.
Investments in stock, sewing up the blocks to sell rocks, winning gunfights with mega cops.
But just a nucca, walking with his finger on the trigger, make enough figures until my pockets gettin bigger. I ain't the type of brother made for you to start testin, give me a Smith & Wesson, I'll nuccas undressin. Thinking of cash flow, buddah and shelter. Whenever frustrated Imma highjack Delta. In the PJ's my blend tape plays bullets is strays. Young bitches is grazed, each block is like a maze.

I can go on. But I'll stop there.

12kyle said...

@ Brad
Here's a part of one of the hottest 16 bars from "Life's A Bitch" by NaS and AZ.

Even though, we know somehow we all gotta go
but as long as we leavin thievin we'll be leavin with some kind of dough
so, and to that day we expire and turn to vapors
me and my capers-ll be somewhere stackin plenty papers
Keepin it real, packin steel, gettin high
Cause life's a bitch and then you die

L. Renee' said...

You did it again 12Kyle
perfect for a Friday!

Gotta go R&B. My Twin..Tamia
This goes out to Big Russ!
Time after time
when I'm feeling low
something inside of me let's me know
It's alright loves on my side.
When we touched theirs the warmest glow
heat in the passion that heaven knows.
It's a dream made for you and me.
Baby I know..I gotta real thing
here by my side
Someone who needs me holding me tight and these special feelings
won't ever fade. Cause your the world to me...You put a move on my heart!!!

Anonymous said...

L'Renee
Channel that inner psycho you had in you the other day and hit us with a hard verse. LOL One about going crazy and killin a bunch of folks.

12kyle said...

@ LRenee
You just brought the testosterone level a bit. The dedication to your hubby is nice but does that mean I gotta go find a love song for my ole lady? LOL

@ Brad
Don't let the looks fool ya...LRenee prolly can rap, too. She might give you HER best verse. LOL

Mina's state of mind said...

This is right up my alley... I love it Kyle! Aiight...
Mos Def...
Yo, check it.... one for Charlie Hustle, two for Steady Rock
Three for the fourth comin live, future shock
It's five dimensions, six senses
Seven firmaments of heaven to hell, 8 Million Stories to tell
Nine planets faithfully keep in orbit
with the probable tenth, the universe expands length
The body of my text posess extra strength
Power-liftin powerless up, out of this, towerin inferno
My ink so hot it burn through the journal
I'm blacker than midnight on Broadway and Myrtle
Hip-Hop past all your tall social hurdles
like the nationwide projects, prison-industry complex
Broken glass wall better keep your alarm set
Streets too loud to ever hear freedom sing
Say evacuate your sleep, it's dangerous to dream
but you chain cats get they CHA-POW, who dead now
Killin fields need blood to graze the cash cow
It's a number game, but shit don't add up somehow
Like I got, sixteen to thirty-two bars to rock it
but only 15% of profits, ever see my pockets like
sixty-nine billion in the last twenty years
spent on national defense but folks still live in fear, like
nearly half of America's largest cities is one-quarter black
That's why they gave Ricky Ross all the crack
Sixteen ounces to a pound, twenty more to a ki
A five minute sentence hearing and you no longer free
40% of Americans own a cell phone
so they can hear, everything that you say when you ain't home
I guess, Michael Jackson was right, You Are Not Alone
Rock your hardhat black cause you in the Terrordome
full of hard niggaz, large niggaz, dice tumblers
Young teens and prison greens facin life numbers
Crack mothers, crack babies and AIDS patients
Young bloods can't spell but they could rock you in PlayStation
This new math is whippin motherfuckers ass
You wanna know how to rhyme you better learn how to add
It's mathematics

12kyle said...

@ Surreptitious NYSOM

"Young bloods can't spell but they could rock you in PlayStation."

Classic!

Thanks for coming to the 12th Planet

Anonymous said...

Come on... I can't believe nobody said:

Thinkin of a master plan
Cuz ain't nuttin but sweat inside my hand
So I dig into my pocket, all my money is spent
So I dig deeper but still comin up with lint
So I start my mission leave my residence
Thinkin how could I get some dead presidents
I need money, I used to be a stick-up kid
So I think of all the devious things I did
I used to roll up, this is a hold up, ain't nuthin funny
Stop smiling, be still, don't nuthin move but the money
But now I learned to earn cause I'm righteous
I feel great! so maybe I might just
Search for a 9 to 5, if I strive
Then maybe I'll stay alive
So I walk up the street whistlin this
Feelin out of place cause, man, do I miss
A pen and a paper, a stereo, a tape of
Me and Eric B, and a nice big plate of
Fish, which is my favorite dish
But without no money it's still a wish
Cause I don't like to dream about gettin paid
So I dig into the books of the rhymes that I made
To now test to see if I got pull..
Hit the studio, cos I'm paid in full


Yo what happened to peace?


PEACE PEACE peace peace!!!!

12kyle said...

@ WEJA
It doesn't get any better than this. It takes me back when we were at Williams Middle School and we were rhymin' in Mrs. Thompson's math class. We knew this cd inside out. No wonder we barely passed her class. lol

Mina's state of mind said...

Thx. Glad to be here!

Diggin through some crates...Ya'll remember these cats; Smooth da hustler and Trigga tha Gambler? Specifically that cut "Broken Language"

No particular enlightenment to be achieved yet amusing nonetheless:

Base your eyes on the guy that have
no kind of worries if I die
so p*ssy guy try
dangerfield steppin my way
bodies get cremated on a Friday the do or die way
your death threat-er, sender, head spinner
rap beginner, light dimmer
3 knockout count winner
the gun reacher, bustin shot teacher
your funeral service church preacher
your black hearse coffin seeker
The body polluter, the gat shooter
the Brownsville wild Brooklyn trooper
the cock D mountain mover
the face basher, the mista brain smasher
the ass waxer, the drug money stasher...


The money stasher, gun blastin razor slasher
the human asthma breath taker
body dump waster
the glock cocker, block locker the rock chopper,
the shot popper, the jock cock glocker
The face splitter, human disgrace getter
the lady shitter, phone joneser
sneak over fuck your babysitter
The chronic smokin, gun totin hearse initiator
the crack supplier, the human drug generator
The honey gamer, the chicken tricker
the slick the long d8ck p*ssy sticker
the ready to bust that ass kicker
The track maneuver, the box barrier
the off of the dome rapper
the c-74 ox carrier....
*******
and they went on and on in this style of rap.

12kyle said...

@ Surreptitious NYSOM

I remember this song. I was in college when it came out. The 1st time I heard it was in a club. I remember thinking..."What is this dude talking about?" It made more sense once I saw the video.

Anonymous said...

This is one of my favorite songs: Hey You by Floetry.

You know I see you on my blank sheet
before I write or form oracle this situation yo,
my memories choke me and stain my
pillow as my voice becomes hollow as I trace tear lines around this space that won't fill
yo I feel nothing but this way and
the emptiness stays and its cluttered with a silence that teases me
it leads me on like it's gonna say,
like it's gonna say

[Chorus:]
Hey You, I'm Sorry that I have to leave I'll try to come back oohhh,
Hey You I'm sorry that I have to leave I'll try to come back one day

You know yesterday I stood outside in the rain
in an attempt to dissolve away
or just disappear
or be gone
be back
or be
just I try to see the point
but I only see the pain
My dreams cry when they're slain
I regain
consciousness to blurry vision
I try to listen out for whispers of...

Eb the Celeb said...

yeah you sound like your pops and everyone else's... my grandparents always said my parents didnt know what real music is... and my parents tell me... and I am saying the same thing now when I hear what my little cousins are listening too... every year we lose the real meaning of music and why the expression was even started... sadly... its only going to get worse... its an industry that is now only driven on money and trends and not having a diverse talent to let the consumers choose what they want to hear

12kyle said...

@ Jewells
I remember this joint. It was on Floetry's first cd. I like this song. Very underrated.

@ Eb
You are soooo right. The music industry is only a shell of what it used to be. Labels seem more concerned with having a hit than developing their artists. There is a lotta "microwave music". I don't begrudge the artists for tryna make a hit but they aren't creative...at all. Once the creativity is lost in music...we all lose.

12kyle said...

@ Eb
Where's yo verse at? LOL

James Tubman said...

clever

rakim was the man but i don't know

im a little younger and i think the greatest years in hip hop by far was 94 and 95

think about all the great artists who had albums nas: illmatic, raekwon: only built for a cuban linx, pharcyde, sunz of man, cool g rap, king just,

the underground scene then was in my opinion the best ever

look at the top rap albums of those two years uncomparable

Muze said...

i'm kinda feeling this blog. thanks for stopping by mine as well.

Muze said...

i have to think of a verse i like. i'll be back.

12kyle said...

@ James
Those were some great years in hip hop. However, 87-89 was the Golden Era of hip hop. The cats from this era blazed a trail for those who followed them in the early 90s. From Eric B & Rakim, NWA, Big Daddy Kane, BDP, Public Enemy, 2 Live Crew, Run DMC, etc. They were so influential for the next generation of hip hop. After listening to a album from this era, it would really make us ponder if true hip hop is dead.

@ Muze
Thanks for coming thru. We're here erryday...like the mailman. lol.

C'mon Muze. I KNOW you gotta a verse or 2.

The Jaded NYer said...

Aww...RAKIM! You took me back, dude! My girl from back in the day used to date him, or his DJ, I forget which one, but I met them both...it was cool.

So I won't kill the vibe with one of my crazy folk song obsessions and just bring the nasty with something newer than the rest:

My favorite verse from What's Your Fantasy by Ludacris-

how 'bout up in the library on top of books
but you can't be too loud
you wanna make a brother beg for it
give me TLC 'cause you know I be too proud
we can do it in the white house
tryna make them turn the lights out
champagne with my campaign let me do the damn thang
what's my name, what's my name, what's my name
ahh the sauna, jacuzzi in the back row at the movie
You can stratch my back and rule me
You can push me and just pull me
on hay in the middle of the barn (woo) rose pedals on the silk sheets uh
eating fresh fruits sweep yo woman right off her feet

12kyle said...

@ Jaded NYer
This was Luda's first big single. I met Luda when I first moved here in '97 b/c we had some mutual friends and we hung out a few times. Back then, he was Chris Luva Luva, the local DJ at the hip hop station. It feels good to see him go from that song to being a star. He's a good dude.

ChadBeasley said...

Check out my song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJkXm7F-Oh0

ChadBeasley said...
This comment has been removed by the author.